Enter Stacey, fantasizing about being in a candy land and eating it all, because she has diabetes
and can never ever eat sweets.
Sigh. I’m sure we’ve all looked
it up, but people with type 1 diabetes can have sweets occasionally. Either medical science didn’t know that back
then or Ann has no clue. Stacy says she
would kill for a tootsie
pop.
Congratulations, Ann. You’ve just
created a serial killer. Perhaps you can
write a series on the Tootsie Pop killer.
Hmmm…turns out Stacey was in math class while fantasizing
and is saved by the bell. She spends her
afternoon sitting for Charlotte Johanssen before heading off to a club
meeting. Her mom calls at the end of the
meeting to hurry her home and she leaves with a sick feeling in her stomach.
No need to panic, Stacey.
You’re just moving back to NYC in five or six weeks. She drops her knife twice during this conversation.
She’s not totally excited about this until
her parents start reminder her of all the good old days and things they can do
until she’s totally psyched. Then she
calls Laine, her formerly former best friend, who tosses cold water on her by
reminding her of all the people who don’t like her at her old school and think
she’s weird. Then she calls Claudia,
heads over to her house and they cry together and try to think of ways Stacey
could stay in the ‘Brook. There really
is no way, because the McGills aren’t going to let their daughter stay behind
and they aren’t staying, so it’s time for an emergency meeting of the BSC.
Stacey tells everyone the next day at lunch and then
scuttles off to talk to her math teacher before the tears really flow. Of course, the remaining girls decide to
throw a going away party for her, although they only have $15. Then they realize they have a lot of business
and are going to be short a sitter. (if
they have all this business, why are they so broke?)
Sitting chapter: MA sits for Jeff Schafer and finds out he
really doesn’t want to be in Connecticut
and that he misses his dad pretty badly.
This has been building for a couple of books now.
The McGills have started packing and realize they have too
much junk to fit into their apartment.
Stacey volunteers to hold a yard sale with the help of her friends. Tada!
A way for them to make money to pay for the
party! (aside from the copious amounts of sitting they’re supposedly doing).
Another sitting chapter.
Claudia is sitting at the Pikes with Mallory and the kids are spying on
their new neighbors. Mal’s not doing it
because she’s “too old.” I call shenanigans
because in SS#1 she was Harriet the Spy
all over that cruise ship.
The BSC organizes for the yard sale, Claudia and Stacey are
sad together and the girls decide to sell brownies and potholders along with
the McGills’ stuff.
Sitting Chapter #3: Kristy sits for her sibs and some of
their friends. Karen starts talking
about how Mrs. Porter is a witch. Mrs.
Porter invites the hoard over to make lemonade and Kristy realizes she’s just a
lonely old woman. (well, duh). I don’t
get why that family lets Karen get away with besmirching and old lady’s name.
Stacey hasn’t told Charlotte J that she’s moving yet and
today’s the day. Charlotte reacts the way you’d expect and
eight-year-old to act, telling Stacey she hates her, then wanting a hug. Stacey takes her over to the McGill house and
shows her all the things they are getting ready for the yard sale. She sets aside a copy of A Cricket in Times Square for Charlotte,
including a personal
inscription.
Yet another sitting chapter: Dawn sits for the Barretts and
they decide to have a yard sale. They
sell one thing, but they give Dawn an idea for Stacey’s going away party.
It’s yard sale day!
The sale is from 10-4:30. Odd
hours for a sale; most around here start at 8 or earlier. Must be the East coast. They get everything set up and the day goes
by busily. They apparently make a crap
ton of money, but, like every other BSC book where money is involved, we don’t
get the actual
figure.
Stacey gets an invitation a few days later for a farewell
party in her honor. She is confused, as
it instructs her to wear old clothes.
She arrives at Kristy’s suitably dressed and is let to the backyard to
see….KIDS!!!! All the kids they sit for,
minus the babies, of course. They start
with an egg relay race, then musical rug, pin the baby on the sitter, hunting
peanuts (not in the day and age with all the nut allergies out there), Simon
Says and races. There are prizes for the
winners; it turns out the girls spent the yard sale money on them[.
At
the end of the party, the kids draw Stacey a huge picture of Stoneybrook for
her to take to NYC. Then they have cake
(including a sugar free one for Stacey) and give Stacey a card before they
leave.
It’s Stacey’s last BSC meeting and there are things to
do. Kristy officially “thanks” Stacey
for her service and transfers the treasurer position to Dawn. They think about asking Mallory to join. Dawn points out Mallory could take a lot of
afternoon jobs, freeing them up for the evenings. Now, I snarked Hello Mallory a few months ago and that point wasn’t brought up
until the end of the book. Even Ann
can’t remember what she writes from book to book.
Stacey gets to call her and ask if she’d be interested and Mallory
shrieks her ecstatic yes.
The morning of the move starts with Stacey bemoaning the
fact that she didn’t sleep well. No one
usually does when something big is happening.
She and her parents clean out the refrigerator, having odd things for
breakfast. Stacey returns to her room to
double check her stuff and weep over the good bye cards her former sitting
charges. As she sobs away, she hears her
friends outside calling to her, holding up a big sign that reads, “See you soon
Stacey!” She gets to keep the sign and
she gives them cards with her name and address that her parents had printed for
her.
I’m glad that’s just a drawing, because the card is a little….umm….I
dunno, not exciting looking. Maybe it’s
just me. They watch the movers pack up
the McGills’ stuff and then the girls say good bye. Claudia slips Stacey a letter to read in the
car, which outlines all the fun things they’ve done and how Stacey’s her best
friend ever. ~Sniff~ Stacey closes up
the letter and starts thinking about New
York and all the fun things she’ll do there. She’s ready; bring it on .
Just for fun, a Claudia outfit: “a purple and white striped body suit under a
gray jumper thing(real technical here).
The body suit went all the way to her ankles, but she was wearing purple
pushdown socks anyways. Around her
middle was a wide purple belt with a buckle in the shape of a telephone. On her feet were black ballet slippers.” I would love to know where you could find a
belt with a telephone shaped buckle…but then, it was the ‘80’s.
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